Flag of the United States, popularly called the
American flag, the official national flag of the United States. It consists of
13 horizontal stripes, 7 red alternating with 6 white, and in the upper corner
near the staff, a rectangular blue field, or canton, containing 50 five-pointed
white stars. The stripes symbolize the 13 colonies that originally constituted
the United States of America. The stars represent the 50 states of the Union.
In the language of the Continental Congress, which defined the symbolic
meanings of the colors red, white, and blue, as used in the flag, “White
signifies Purity and Innocence; Red, Hardiness and Valor; and Blue, Vigilance,
Perseverance and Justice.” Because of its stars, stripes, and colors, the
American flag is frequently called the Star-Spangled Banner, the Stars and
Stripes, or the Red, White, and Blue. Another popular, patriotic designation,
Old Glory, is of uncertain origin.
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ORIGINS OF THE AMERICAN FLAG
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Early flags designed for
use in the American colonies reflected the European origin of the colonists. In
the British colonies many flags were adaptations of the British Union Jack (see
Flags, National). The colors red, white, and blue, which symbolized colonial
unity, were first used in a flag in New England in 1737. The flag was blue with
a white canton quartered by a red cross. In one upper quarter of the canton was
a globe symbolizing the New World.
As relations with Great
Britain became more strained, the colonists designed a large number of flags
expressive of their political sentiments and ideals. A favorite emblematic
device in the flags of the southern colonies was a rattlesnake, usually
depicted as coiled and ready to strike and having 13 rattles. In South Carolina
it was emblazoned on a yellow flag and was accompanied by the inscription “dont tread on me.” Another South
Carolina colonial flag consisted of 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red alternating
with 6 blue; a rattlesnake depicted with its forked tongue projecting extended
diagonally across the flag toward the upper corner near the staff. A similar
Virginia colonial flag differed from the latter South Carolina emblem in two
respects: it contained 6 white instead of 6 blue stripes, and beneath the serpent
was inscribed “dont tread on me.”
Another Virginia flag was white and emblazoned with crossed swords and the
motto “Liberty or Death.”
The idea of liberty appeared
on many other flags besides that of Virginia. The word was inscribed on an
otherwise plain red flag raised in New York by the Sons of Liberty, a secret
patriotic organization, in defiance of a British regulation forbidding the
display of any but the British flag. “Liberty”
also formed the inscription of a Taunton, Massachusetts, flag consisting of a
red field and a blue canton containing the British Union Jack.
A favorite device in other
colonial flags was the pine tree, called the liberty tree. In 1775 the
minutemen bore a yellow flag with a pine tree on it. In New England the liberty
tree device appeared on a yellow flag bearing the inscriptions “An Appeal to God” and “Dont Tread on Me.” The tree also
appeared in the white canton of a red flag that, with other emblems, was borne
by the Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. The first known
American colonial flag with stars was that displayed in 1775 by the armed
schooner Lee. The flag of the Lee was white. Near its center was
a blue anchor partially enclosed by a scroll, and above the anchor was
inscribed the word “Hope.” In the
upper corner of the flag was a blue canton containing 13 five-pointed stars.
To meet the growing need
for a flag symbolic of its cause, the Continental Congress appointed a special
committee in the latter part of 1775. The committee, which consisted of
Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, the statesman Benjamin Harrison of Virginia,
and the planter Thomas Lynch of South Carolina, conferred with George
Washington and other revolutionary leaders. Because the political sentiment
prevailing at that time among these leaders was opposed to separation from
Great Britain and envisaged eventual reconciliation, the flag finally adopted
signified the two dominant contemporary political ideas: colonial unity against
oppression and continued union with Great Britain. The first idea was
represented in the flag by 13 horizontal stripes, 7 red alternating with 6
white. The second idea was symbolized by including, in a blue canton at the top
of the flag near the staff, the two crosses of the British Union Jack—the cross
of St. George and the cross of St. Andrew. This flag, which may have been
designed in detail by Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of
Independence, was raised for the first time at Charlestown, Massachusetts, on
January 1, 1776. It was known as the Continental flag, or the Congress colors.
In later times it came to be called the Grand Union, or Cambridge, flag.
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DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN FLAG
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Betsy Ross
Betsy Ross managed her husband’s upholstery
business after his death in 1776, and became a maker of United States flags.
According to legend, a committee headed by George Washington asked Ross to
design and make the first American flag in 1776.
On June 14, 1777, Congress
made the following resolution: “The flag of the United States shall be thirteen
stripes, alternate red and white, with a union of thirteen stars of white on a
blue field ...” Official announcement of the new flag was not made until
September 3, 1777. When it was first flown has not been determined. Historical
research has failed to establish a factual foundation for the traditional story
that the flagmaker Betsy Ross made the first American flag.
Because Congress had made
no rule for the arrangement of the stars, they were displayed in different
ways. The most usual arrangement was a circle. Occasionally the circle was made
to consist of 12 stars with the 13th star forming the center of the circle. As
new states joined the Union, they demanded representation in the stars and stripes
of the flag. In 1795 Congress voted to increase to 15 the number of stars and
stripes. Legislation enacted in 1818 reestablished the number of stripes at 13
and instituted the policy, “That on the admission of every new state into the
Union, one star be added to the union of the flag ...”
The First American Flag
The first American flag was made in 1776,
after the 13 colonies declared independence from Britain. The flag had a star
and a stripe for each colony. In 1777 it became the official flag of a new
nation, the United States.
At the time of the Mexican
War in 1846, the American flag contained 29 stars. At the start of the American
Civil War in 1861, the flag contained 34 stars, including those of the seceding
states. By the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898, the flag contained 45
stars. From 1912 until 1959, the flag had 48 stars arranged in six rows of
eight stars each. The 49th and 50th stars were added in 1959 and 1960,
respectively, after Alaska and Hawaii were admitted to the Union. The 49 stars
were arranged in seven rows; the 50 stars are arranged in nine rows of
alternating lengths—five rows of six stars and four rows of five stars.
An executive order issued
by President William Howard Taft on October 29, 1912, fixed the overall width
and length of the U.S. flag, known technically as the hoist and fly,
respectively, in the ratio of 1:1.9. The 13 stripes were fixed at equal width.
The hoist of the blue field containing the stars was fixed at seven-thirteenths
of the overall hoist, that is, as extending from the top of the flag to the
bottom of the seventh stripe. The fly of the blue field was fixed at a tiny
fraction over three-fourths of the overall hoist. The diameter of each star was
established as a minute fraction under one-sixteenth of the overall hoist.
IV
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DISPLAY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG
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Flag Burning
On June 11, 1990, the Supreme Court struck down the constitutionality of the 1989 Flag Protection Act, which outlawed flag burning. The Court maintained that flag burning is a form of political speech and therefore is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. That same year, President George Bush proposed a new, and much criticized, constitutional amendment outlawing flag burning.
A joint resolution adopted
by Congress in 1942 established a uniform code for display of the national
flag. Included are the following rules.
The flag is usually displayed
from sunrise to sunset in the open. It should be raised briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
It is displayed daily, weather permitting, and especially on certain holidays,
on or near the main administration buildings of all public institutions. It is
also displayed in or near every polling place on election days and in or near
every schoolhouse during school days.
When carried in processions
with another flag, the U.S. flag is borne to the right of the other emblems
carried by the marchers. When carried with several other flags, it may be borne
in front of the center of the line formed by the other standards. No other flag
or pennant should be placed above the U.S. flag. When displayed against a wall
or in a window, the blue field should be uppermost and to the left of the
observer. When displayed flat on a speaker's platform, the flag should be
behind and above the head of the speaker.
A number of rules regulate
the display of the flag at various public ceremonies and its display in
connection with state and city flags and in churches. Other rules deal with the
observance of proper respect for the American flag. The latter are supplemented
in most of the states by laws prohibiting the use of the U.S. flag for
advertising purposes. The armed services have detailed regulations for military
and naval uses of the flag.
Rules also apply to folding
the flag in ceremonial occasions and for storage. To properly fold the flag,
two people hold each end and fold it in half lengthwise two times, so that the
blue field appears on the outside. The person holding the striped side then
makes triangular folds until only a triangle of the blue field shows.
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DESECRATION OF THE FLAG
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Sometimes people choose
to express disapproval of government actions by desecrating (damaging or
insulting) the flag as a symbol of the nation. For example, students protesting
the Vietnam War (1959-1975) on occasion burned the U.S. flag during antiwar
demonstrations on college campuses. Such incidents were rare, but they sparked
considerable controversy. Many Americans were deeply offended by disrespect
shown to the American flag.
In a case heard by the
Supreme Court of the United States in 1989, the justices voted 5 to 4 that
burning the flag was protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
which guarantees freedom of speech. In the decision, the court also said that
states could not outlaw desecration of the flag. In response, the U.S. Congress
passed a Flag Protection Act in 1989, making it a crime to knowingly deface,
mutilate, burn, or trample on the American flag. The Supreme Court soon struck
down the law as an attempt to regulate free speech.
On several occasions members
of Congress have proposed amending the Constitution to enable Congress to
prohibit desecration of the flag. Although the House of Representatives has
approved the proposed amendment, the amendment has narrowly failed to receive
approval from the Senate. Two-thirds of the members of the House and Senate
must approve a constitutional amendment before it is sent to the states for
ratification.
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OTHER OFFICIAL U.S. FLAGS
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The official flag of the
president is a blue or azure emblem containing a white star in each corner and,
in the center, a representation of the official presidential seal. Each of the
heads of the executive departments has an official flag, as do many of the
agencies of these departments and the independent federal agencies. The
branches of the armed forces also have official flags.
